Alberta braces for water scarcity as fracking intensifies
As Alberta anticipates a severe drought, the oil and gas industry faces warnings of limited water availability due to extensive use in fracking,
Drew Anderson reports for The Narwhal.
In short:
- Fracking in Alberta consumes billions of litres of water, permanently removing it from the water cycle.
- With Alberta on the brink of an intense drought, there's growing concern over water allocation among municipalities, industries, and agricultural sectors.
- The Alberta Energy Regulator has alerted oil and gas companies about potential water shortages, emphasizing the critical situation in southern Alberta.
Key quote:
"The water used in hydraulic fracturing is 'unrecoverable' to the environment; it is all removed from the active water cycle."
— Renato Gandia, spokesperson for the Alberta Energy Regulator
Why this matters:
The fracking process is water-intensive, requiring millions of gallons of water per well, which can worsen water scarcity in drought-prone areas. The large volumes of water used in fracking become contaminated with chemicals and cannot be easily reintegrated into the water cycle, leading to concerns about the sustainability of water supplies.
In Pennsylvania, more than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.
